Fifteen years ago, drummer Rich Pagano was touring with jazz/rock guitarist Hiram Bullock. It just so happens that bass player Will Lee was also a member of the band.

“I knew who Will was, but at that time I didn’t know him personally. During the sound check, I was tuning my drums when Will came over and said, ‘You really have that Ringo thing down!’” He then suggested that we start “the greatest Beatles band ever and really do it accurately.” Pagano hesitated.

“Everybody knows I love the Beatles, but I didn’t want to be in a Beatles band,” he said in a recent telephone interview from his studio in New York. “But you don’t say no to Will Lee. His perseverance is incredible. He stayed on me for at least a month, calling me every week to ask if I had changed my mind. So I finally said, ‘OK, let’s do it!’”

Pagano knew a bunch of guys who had all of the Beatles bootlegs and who were on the same level as far as getting deep into the details of the music.

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“I brought in a list of 25 people and we narrowed it down to Frank Agnello, Jack Petruzzelli and Jimmy Vivino. Jack and I had been playing with Joan Osborne and I had done gigs with Frank. Besides being a great guitarist and vocalist, Jimmy’s a good keyboard player and he can also score the music for orchestra.

“We all went over to Will’s one night and started assigning parts for ‘Because’ from the ‘Abbey Road’ album. It sounded wonderful. We knew we had the vocals, so we started booking rehearsal rooms to see how we played together.”

Lee also remembers that night when the band — now known as the Fab Faux — first got together.

“The idea was to see what we sounded like,” he said in a telephone interview from New York. “Whose vocal range is in what part of the spectrum? Who’s got the high voice? The low voice? We did it well on our first try. We all sang our best.”

Some call the Fab Faux a Beatles cover band. But there are no wigs, costumes or gimmicks. So exactly what is it?

“In a way, we are an orchestra. The instruments may not be what you think of as being in a traditional orchestra. But the fact that we’re re-creating the records of the Beatles and bringing those records to the live stage makes us like a classical orchestra. I see us as a vehicle to get those records into a live performance,” Lee said.

Pagano added, “My goal may be different from that of the others. They’re sort of purists. Some of them never stray from the actual parts. Ninety-five percent of what I play is going to be on the record. But I want to bring the record to life, so that the audience is not only listening to the record but seeing a really energetic live show as well.

“With that in mind, sometimes I may be hitting a little harder than Ringo. I may change a fill to exaggerate it because I think it adds to the show.”

Fast forward 16 years. The Fab Faux will play “Abbey Road” in its entirety on Saturday, March 23, at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside. The Hogshead Horns and the Crčme Tangerine Strings will accompany them.

“Abbey Road” was the last album the Beatles ever recorded and they never performed it live. It marked their return to working with legendary producer George Martin.

“They thought they had one more record in them,” Rich said. “That’s why “Abbey Road” is a great combination of rock ’n’ roll with orchestrations.”

Lee explained that there are always challenges when performing the Beatles’ music.

“Within each tune, there are some great subtleties that we don’t ever really think about until it’s time to re-create them. Each one of us in the Fab Faux is a player as well as a singer.

‘Abbey Road’ came late in the Beatles’ career, so they didn’t worry about singing while playing their parts. But learning how to coordinate those moves — singing and playing — still means something to each one of us!”

Pagano said that side two of “Abbey Road” is really one take, with a lot of little bits that have been edited together.

“There’s a very different feel when going from ‘Sun King’ to ‘Mean Mr. Mustard,’ so we have to make sure we grab the intensity and memorize the change in tempo.”

During the bridge in “Something,” Pagano sings backing vocals while playing in a way that re-creates Ringo’s overdubbing on the song.

“Before that part comes up, I always have to focus, say ‘OK, here it comes,’ and hope for the best,” he added.

For Lee, the challenge is found in “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer.”

“In that song, George Harrison played bass on the record and he used an instrument called a Fender VI. When people look at a Fender VI, their eyes tell them they’re looking at a guitar, but it’s really a six-string bass made perfectly for a guitar player’s hands.

“My hands are like lobsters compared to a guitar player’s hands, but I use a Fender VI just like George did because that’s what the Fab Faux is all about. Our focus is to try to keep the music as authentic as we can.

“We want to get it right. Whenever the ‘Abbey Road’ album is looming, I have to get ready to play those tiny little strings on ‘Maxwell’s Silver Hammer!’”

Speaking about the Keswick Theatre experience, Lee said, “It’s like being in our living room and playing for our friends. We’ve always been received so warmly there, and we always look forward to it. It’s shocking for me to realize that it has been a full 15 years for us.

“People who come to the Keswick will be seeing the same five guys who got together that first night in my apartment to try out a song. That song was ‘Because’ from ‘Abbey Road’. We have come full-circle. Wow!”